Weekly broiler chick placements down 3%

WASHINGTON — Broiler growers in the 19-state weekly program placed 166 million chicks for meat production during the week ending Sept. 12, which were down 3% from the comparable week a year earlier, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

From Dec. 28, 2008, through Sept. 12, cumulative placements were 6.22 billion, down 5% from the same period a year earlier.

Commercial hatcheries in the 19-state weekly program set 193 million eggs in incubators during the week ending Sept. 12, which is down 2% from the eggs set the corresponding week a year earlier. Average hatchability for chicks hatched during the week, which is calculated by dividing chicks hatched during the week by eggs set three weeks earlier, was 84%.